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AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT
J K STEILE EDITOR
ynBUSHKBs Notice All communications Intended for this department should be addresied
toPnor J P Stelle Fort Worth Tex
WIlY ITS ONLY A VvTII >
We have growing in great profusion on
our Texas prairies hosts of flowering plants
liearing more beautiful fiors than any
thing one ever sycs under attention in a
Texas llower garden Many of them re
spond w 11 to culure and show marked
mprovemcnt i return for good treatment
jnu yet one rarely sees a socalled wild
ipecimen among the floral pet3 of ac Texas
household Show an interest in one of
hest indigeneous species and not a few
pe < ile will laugh at jou for your jains
willi the exclamation Why its only a
weed
Now are our wild lowers weeds What
docs it take to constitute a weed The
word weed is not a synonym for indig
enous or native Webster says of a
weed that it is any plant that is useless or
troublesome Henderson says weeds are
siiih plants as come up spontaneously in
the ground where crops are sown or
planted ro matter what they are for if not
wanted there no matter how ornamental
they may be or how useful in other local
ities iho are out of place and should be
ut down as weeds Thus it will be seen
that a plant becomes a weed not for the
simple reason of its beinr common but be
nie it is troublesome A tomato plant in
union row would be as much a weed as
would a cockle bur and an onion among
tie tomatoes would be equally a weed A
weed is simply a plant out of place and a
noxious wse1 so called is a plant that
persists in petting itself out r > T place
Under this correct ruling our beautiful
wild flowering plants of the Texas prairies
are not weeds as they prow on our uncul
nted lands for they are not out of place
fur mdeed of them ever incline to become
h eds nono uoxiois weeds for thv
promptly disappear ocfore thu work nt the
w Near all of our weeds are introductions
men some other section ot country a very
urge per cent of them being from the Old
World
This word weed throws j shadow over
our beautiful wild flowers that ought to lie
removed by common consent It no doubt
jwers their general npp eciation at the
nands of many unthinking people Do ou
suppose for a moment that the people of
other regions where our wild Dowers do
not gro > v would ever thind of classing
hem as weeds could they be transferred to
heir tlower gardens On the ther hand
ma v of them that our people consider un
worthy of so much as a passinp notice
would become the very pets of the collec
tion and they woit certainly bo entirely
deserving of the rank
Some days ago when the Conductors
were on a visit to Fort Worth wc chanced
o be it passengir on an electric car that
uit > k a nuir wr of them and their ladies out
Arlington Heights Many of the visit
ladies were entirely carried away as
< sj at sight of the wild flowers on the
pairie Oil that fold of lovely ml
donors over yonder vhut are they cx
< ltiuiud one lady to a Texas gentleman sit
i hi near her Them Why they are
oLii common weeds A gentleman sitting
urther away remarked aside to anoher
trntleman that they were chigger weeds
juu bred chiggers by the million
And that magnificent group across
oinler surely they cannot bo mere
needs Only common weeds said the
gentleman addiessed while the other gen
tleman told his friend aside evidently in
tending for he lady to hear it that some
folks called them basket wciJs because
he blossom looked like it was silting in a
iviste basket And them great white
flowers overthere what kind of weeds are
ihe lit was a bed of Mexican poppies
Let me see I forget the iame of them
Cactus weeds said the other gentleman
aside Oh jes them are cactus weeds
And the mea test weeds that ever grew
said the other gentleman aside for they
are covered with sharp thorns which take
a fellow just about the ankles when
he is riding on horseback And what
were these charming palm like
miuches witli the spikes of large grcenish
bite flowers tnat were passed back
under Them were Beargrass
oi ke m thn other gentleman aside to his
lend Bear grass weeds responded
ho lady with a bit of irony in her tone
And continued the other gentleman
aside they are uo goc < l only for stringing
ti > h and hanging baton with their leaves
Inch are us strong a buckskin And we
ere at the Heights
This made us think of a case in which
onco figured ou old German watchmaker
and the citizens of a little then backwoods
Kilagp up in Kentucky It was the first
watchmaker who had ver materialized at
mat particular village and m the early
days of his location all hands turned out to
sco his shop His tnols being very unlike
hose of the village blacksmith with which
hey were more or less familiar attracted
general attention and Yd to the asking of
numerous questions as to what
they were and what ho did with
hem Whats t25 Mr Schneider and
what is it for Jt ish un tool tint I virks
tint if Exactly and what is this
Mr Schneider and what is it for I
ish un tool uni I vorks mit it too And
what is this It is un tool too And so
on until the curiosity of all had been sat
isfied Thus it goes with reference to our
beaut if il wild flowers of the prairies
What is this It is a weed And
what is this ft is a weed too etc
Of course it is not to be expected of
ovcryono that he should be a botanist with
1 no name and natural history of all our
Texas plants at his fingers ends but there
are certainly none among us incapable of
dropping this entirely inapplicable name of
weed lrom them They are no more
weeds thnn are the plants cultivated iu our
flower gardens The notion of a weed
doubtless springs rain the fact that they
arc seen growing wild If indigenous
growth makes them weeds then all our cul
tivated plants are weeds for there is not
one among them that did not as a species
grow wild somewhere
Wo would like to see a better home ap
preciation of our inimicablq wild flowers
iu our opinion few better advertisements
cojld be held up before the flower loving
stranger than a talofully arranged llower
raien composed wbollyof our own native
fiowario plants una onco wc could dispel
tio sai i ui Ui ir bel g needs few
collections could be made moie
pleasing to ourselves Confining
ourselves to our own flowers exclusively
might be regarded as running a little to ex
tremes and therefore we might mix exot
ics up in our collection if wc desired to do
so still all natives would be not near so
unpardona jIo an extreme as exists in our
present usage of employing all exotics to
the entire exclusion of many decidedly more
deserving natives
OX CIIILYIKR IItOI > rCTIOX
A gentleman connected with one of our
states most prominent public institutions
but who for reasons best known to himself
declines to afford us the pleasure of print
ing his name and location kindly supplies
us with a paper on the subject indicated by
the above heading After fully indorsing
the cours pursued by us with reference to
the evideut need of cheaper production
rather than reduced production and then
putting in many kind words for the work
we are doing through the agricultural de
partment of Tun Gazette he says
Cheaiier production may resiiit as the
work of a combination embracing many
things not now generally thought of by the
farmer One of these is an employment of
the very best improved and approved agri
cultural implements to be had on any mar
ket Cheaper production in other indus
trial lines comes largely through this very
channel and there is no good reason for
supiiosing that it the same thing will not
work in agriculture as well as anywhere
elseAnother
Another prolific souree of cheaper pro
duction lies in making a good use of every
thing on the farm Unless this is done
ones prosi > ects for being able to stand
abreast with the cheapest producers are
slim indeed The margin of fjroiit is now
adays small in every branch of business
and fanning comes wholly within the pre
vailing rule There must be rigid economy
in lioth time and materials else the profits
ill disappear through a lack of cheap pro
duction Those fanners who produce
cheaply and thus hold the market of farm
products to what another class regards as
ruinous figures utilize everything that can
1 made to contribute even the smallest
ilem to the advantages of the farm
the first effort of the farmer bent on
cheap prodiictionshouldbedirected towards
an economy of time or it night be best to
say a utilization of time to the best possible
advantage 1 do not mean by this that the
fanner should make a slave of himself any
more than does the man in soo r other suc
cessful branch of business but time is
inou v It time is worth so much per hour
eveiy hour thrown away or misapplied is a
clear loss of the amount of money that it
would be wo Hi if well applied It is just
the same n everything A business that
cannot keep a man constantly engaged is
not a good business and the man iu a busi
ness not capable of doing this rarely be
c lines a financial success If there is a
chance for his putting in all lis time in a
useful kind of way and he neglects to do
si the thing is just as bad as if he had uo
xriiy of putting in the time It is like some
manufacturing plant running on short time
Then the i is something more than
putting in ones whole time It must be
systematically put in Every step taken
and every stroke made should count for
something Some of the hardest working
men 1 have ever known wasted half their
time by working out of correct system
They ran here and there always in a hurry
but had uo previously laid plans to work to
and as a consequence they took ten steps
wherelive might have done mst as well
and pcujaps lietter While this is a sad
wasteor time it is more a waste of strength
alsoYou
You will encounter men of this character
every day iu the year They enter ui > on an
undertaking without having first decided
upon the best plans for action They rush
into the work with such speed that they do
not discover a mistake until the work is
half done perhaps and then in many
cases they are forced to go back and begin
at the original starting jioint The time is
Jos and also the strength expended
This kind of haste makes waste While
it is well to be active ad dilligcnt it is
equally as imiortant to have our activity
governed by intelligent thought The farmer
especially cannot afford to work with
out a plan which has been previously ma
tured To say that he must not plan while
he works would probaly be saying too
much but should he do so the plans being
laid must be for something to come and
not for that which he is already doing
Suppose for instance that the farmer
concludes to set an orchard t be made up
of so many apple trees so many pear trees
so many i > eaeli tree and so on He is one
of those rjshers and in his hurry bulges
off to the nursery and orders the trees with
out regard to variety time of ripening fruit
or anything of that Lind Cannot you see
that he stands a first class chance of having
his fruit all ripening at the same season
and that as a consequence the value of his
orchard would be greatly impaired A little
thought and planning might have saved
him this very damaging mistake
If we are to spend our tine to the best
advantage we must devote a portion of it
in deciding how the remainder can be spent
to best advantage in our business Such is
a true ccoiiomijng of time It is not tho
num who works the hardest physically who
saves the most tifne but the man who
works systematically always to such a pre
viously laid plan as shall make every Mep
and every lick count to advantage
On an ordinary farm there are multitudes
of things to be attended to that if neglected
will ut an important figure against cheap
production Important among these stands
waste of materials The average Texas
farmer does not consider fertilizing his
lands a necessity but let me tell you that
while it may not be an absolute necessity
under the common way there is a gain in
it and hence a contribution to cheap pro
duction Every fertilizing agent a man can
gather on his farm aud add to his land
increases that lauds productiveness and
if gathered at odd spells thus involving
little outlay of valuable time which can al
wa s be done under good management it
invariably brings returns entirely above
the outlay and is therefore an important
factor in cheaper production As yet no
lands have been found so rich that farm
manures will not improvo them and this
well establishedfact ought to bo enough to
cut off every need of arguing the case The
lands may be looked upon as doing very well
without this uianural aid for Texas lands
are extremely good as a rule yet that they
would do better with it is something estab
lished beyond reasonable question 2sot a
few of our farmers put up with half a bale
of cotton to the acre but there can be no
cheip production in half a bale to the acre
Let the man who considers his land good
enough though he gets but half a bale to
the acre ask himself why he does not get
more seeing as some of his neighbors get a
bate to the acre This question ought to
tuni his thoughts to the fertilizing elements
going to waste on his farm and lead to the
laying of plans for cheaply fertilizing them
And even the man getting the full bale to
the acre well knows that more than a bale
to the acre is often raised by others and in
casting about for the cause of why he is
not up to the highest he will Jie very apt to
find manures playing an importaut part
The cheajiest jwssible production demands
that flrery advantage be taken
Again every field on the farm should be
devoted to the crop for which it is best
adapted To find this best adaptation calls
for thought and clo e observation It b > > no
unusual thing to see farmers trying to
grow crops on lands not well suited to such
crops though they might be exactly all
right forcrops of some other character
These are the meu who fail to make farm
ing pay and who murraer over their own
bad luck as proven by tho batter aucceu of
V St
gfiSW
their no more industrious neighbors and
who eventually demand a forced relief to
come from sources oeyond the fence of the
farm in other words they fall into farming
with their mouths rather than with the
brain and the hand a species of farming
which while it may pay some ring leader
for a little season will pay the actual
workersworse than any kind of farming
they could possibly engage in There is no
such thing as honestly obtaining something
for nothing If we get money without
hohiiitg up a miu and taking it from
him by brute force we must have some
thing to give in return for it
He who uses iu his farm operations the
best agricultural implements to be had aud
who saves everything possible on his farai
converting it to some good use and who
makes the best of his time aud who follows
that branch of fanning for which his land
and conditions are best adapted is on the
straight road to cheap produetiouand finan
cial success
I I5 > VTInIiii > IABMKi
Mr John M Stahl writes that the great
est mistake of the age lies in a widespread
effort being made to render farmers dissat
isfied with their calling Dissatisfaction
leads to dislike and when a man gets to
disliking his calling the sooner a separation
is effected the better for all concerned A
man can suceeed best alone in that work
which he likes best Into it he throws all
his energies as a labor of love Ho thinks
about it and plans its good at night and
when at his meals and while at work
Work of the brain instigated by actual love
and backed up by the work of two willing
hands is truly almighty Therefore the
industrious man satisfied with his calling
is invariably sui cessful in it aud that suc
cess prolongs his satisfaction to the end
How very wrong then to be ever harping
on the dark side as many are doing often
from sinister motives leaving tue bright
spots unnoticed or endeavoricg to cover
them up fron general view
The man dissatisfied with his work has
no enthusiasm When he thinks of his work
those thoughts ue not of how to put more
of himself into it He is not energetic and
dilligent how could he be And thus his
work being neither wisely directed or ani
mated by enthusiasm is unsuccessful how
could it be otherwise He is dissatisfied
because of the gloomy outlook fcr the fut
ure in other words he is dissatisfied be
cause he is unsuccessful and he is unsuc
cessful because he is dissatisfied
Becoming dissatisfied and despondent can
never help matter It will never fill the
cribs mows binus and gins Times may
be a little tight just now or any other year
but what Is anyone to gain by sitting back
and murmuring about it If timcs are hard
with the farmer a little study beyond the
fann will show that the depression is gen
eral Comparatively little money is being
made by the outside masses regardless of
what they are engaged in w hen it is a haul
up year with the farmer The lot of the
farmer mufh as Is blown tothe forewinds
relative to its hardness is nevertheless
but simply the common lot of all When a
man is not successful while others are then
he aiay well harbor a feeling of dissatisfac
tion with himself The fault evidently
lies at his own door But if after having
done his best he still falls short and look
ing about him fiuls everybody in the sjme
fix hn has ti < j just grounds for becoming
dissatisfied it s merely one of thoso
freaks of the times that must occasionally
fall across the path of all branches of busi
ness A man may well be dissatisfied with his
business Then It is patut that he could do
better at some other character of business
but at what other business could a
regular and wellinformed fanner hope
to do better than at farming Could he do
better by joining the ranks of the dissat
tied belligerent striking city wage work
ers out of employment a largo portion of
the time especially with his own personal
inexperience in such things Could he do
better by falling into ranks with the citys
business men and bringing his inexperience
into competition with their lifelong train
ing especiall 7 in face of the fact that with
all their training about fourfifths of all
their enterprises lail sooner or later If
fourfifths of the enterprises of trained men
fail of prominent success what could an
untraine d man with no experence in those
particular lines find to build upon his hopes
of succeeding Let every dissatisfied
farmer answer thee questions for himself
and in a spirit of reason
Forsooth there is nothing safer than
farming and nothing else so unifomly
profitable under correct management Lard
is a safe investment especially In a live
country like Texas The man whose prop
erty is in stocks and notes is continually
threatened with heavy losses The man in
trade or in manufacturing may lose all his
property almost any day but not so with
the man whose property is in a good farm
If he is a good fanner and a good man
ager which means the same thing he is
almost entirely safe the failures of others
are not apt to take his farm neither can a
clerk or bookkeeper carry it to Mexico or
Canada
The cases in wliich a careful and good
managing farmer has lost his farm on debt
are rare indeed Statistics supplied to Mr
Edward Atkinson by the various syndicates
loaning money onfarms show that during
the past twenty years our farmers havo re
duced their indebtedness to a greater ex
tent than any other people and that
scarcely 1 per cent of all the mortgages
given on farms in that length of time have
been foreclosed > o other line of business
can make anything like so encouraging a
showing
Why then all this twaddle about the
failure of fanning to pay is it the work of
the farmers themselves Xot much at first
hand we take it though no doubt some
who have been farmers or who are classed
as fanners but should not be are iudustri
ously ventilating the twaddle at second
hand Our farmers as the people of a par
ticular calling should down all such the
Grange as one of Their organizations should
down it and the Alliance as another of
their organizations should down it
A fraud may have fooled us and joined
Intent upon doing his best
At using the order he s wronged
To feather his personal nest
Such schemer we speedily pounce
And him to outside of our walls
We bounce and we bounce and we bounce
And that s what ve do at our halls
1OTATO 1IOtH
Some of our consular reports to the
United States department of state represent
that Germany does a large business in the
manufacture of flour from the Irish potato
The flour is used for culinary purposes and
for multifarious purposes iu the mechanical
arts Sausage makers Use it iu consider
able quantities bakers and confectioners
make extensive use of it Textile and
weaving establishments use it calico print
ers use it silk wqrkers use it and it is
manufactured by the wholesaleso to speak
into gluco j syrups and grape sugars
PHieuor Ouitll says the sweet potato
S fjf
yields as fine a potato flour as the Irish
potato and turns out a much larger per
cent of the pure article to the bushel
All of which furnishes a hint that the
Texan might take with advantage to his
state and profit to himself Potato flour
could bo manufactured as well here as in
Germany and under correct management
we can make 400 bushels of sweet potatoes
to the acre a rather sure thing AVe have
already shown that there is undoubtedly
millions for Texas in the manufacture of
glucose from the sweet potato this4 flour
manufacturing might be made an adjunct to
the glucose plant It is our honest opinion
that Texas has no better thing than she
might find in extensive sweet potato cult
ure and this is certainly saying a great
deal for the industry
OUR CORRESPONDENTS
This department is devoted to answennj
such questions as mav be asked by our sub
scribers which may be of general information
Inquiries of personal character that require an
swer by mail should always have stamp In
closed Please give full name and postomce
address in addition to any such signature as
Subscriber or A G D not for publication
if against the will of the writer but to admit ot
direct communication should such a thing be
deemed necessary Address as directed at head
of this page
DIE LIKE 1ItUDUCE LIKE
If you cau consistently do so please tell
me through The Gazette if like is sure to
produce like For instance if a large paper
shell pecan nut be planted can it be relied
on as certain to produce nuts of the same
kind when the resulting tree comes into
Tearing If not would ii not be best to
plant nuts where the trees are to stand and
then graft on the young growths such
scions as you know to be of entirely good
quality Would the grafted tree grow as
readily as the tree from the nut Any in
formation you may give me on this subject
will be much appreciated and will prove
beneficial to me and wssibly to many
others W A Selleiw
Starkville Miss
There is no such thing as like producing
like to entire perfctlon There arc no
two things iu nature precisely alike We
say as much alike as two peas yt 1 if we
critically examine all the peas of a pod we
will be able to detect such variations as will
show that no two of them are exactly alike
Just so with the grains on au ear of corn
no two can bo found that will lal to show
a variation in some way o other
In most cases however a srecies or a va
riety held entirely within itself as to fer
tilization will produce a like species or a
like variety So far like produces like but
no further
The jiecan is rather skittish in that dircc
tiin If there wis but one pecan treo iu
the state of Mississippi and it occupied a
central position far away from all other
pecan trees its nuts would be yciy apt to
produce trees that would yield nuts much
like those of the parent for all chances of
crossing upon some other variety would lie
cut off It is this crossing that plays the
mischief with the pecan A tree yielding
the finest papershell nuts known may have
some of its flowers fertilized by an inferior
variety even though that inferior variety
should be pro wing a mile or so away In
sects might bring the pollen dust from the
flowers of the oue variety to those of the
other The nut resulting from that fertil
ization would be a cross though the nut it
self would not show it The tree springing
from that nut would be sure to bear
differing in some way from thenut plant
Of course you will understand that all
paperhcll pecan are not crosses The
pecan bears both male and female flowers
on the same tree hence the chances are
that a large per cent of the nuts would be
tnie to variety that is no cross On this
account it would vs best to plant nil paper
shells if you waut all pa > ershells and the
chances are that most of the trees coming
from them will bear papershell though
as you must see there exists a possibility
that some of them will turn out otherwise
The grafting ou the plan suggested would
make a sure thing of it but it must be re
numbered that the pecan is a pretty hard
tree to graft No members of the hickory
family graft well though all of them may
be grafted by an expert But the most
skilled grafter will lose a large per cent of
his trees therefore it would be safest to
graft at least half a dozen stalks at each
hill If all happen o take the surplus can
be cut away after perfect establishment
It is our opinion that a grafted iiecan
tree would grow all right when once estab
lished but owing to the very little grafting
of the pecau that has ever been done we
have no good authority for saying so
THE SCIIPrKKXOXG GRAPE KTC
I was very much interested in an article
of yours appearing iu The Gazette some
months ago with reference to the scupper
nong grape It pointed out the necessity
of planting with it some other kind of crape
to make the scuppernong fruitful in Texas
Immediately I wrote to my nurserymau for
more light on the subject and he sent me a
dozen scuppernong vines with directions
for planting culture etc I am still in the
dark with regard to what other variety it
is necessary to plant near the seuppernongs
to make them fruitful A neighbor some
miles further down Red river has a scup
pernong vino several years eld that has
never borne any fruit If you will set me
right through Ttie Gazette the informa
tion will be thankfully received
A colony of us from Western Illinois set
tled here in the Red river valley last Sep
tember with the intention of going largely
into fmits We have already planted yOOO
vines and about 3000 peach trees most of
which are now doing remarkably well
Walter X > Bestiet
Wichita Falls Tex
The scuppernong is a freak or sport from
the Vitis vulpina family of the grape of
which the wild muscadine is the leading
species It sprung from the muscadine
The Vitis vulpina is a dioecious plant that
is one plant bears only male flowers while
another plant bears only female flowers It
takes both a male plant and a female plant
to bring about fruitfulnrss The scupper
nong is a female plant therefore a male
plant is necessary to fertilize its flowers
and make grapes As there was never
more than oue scuppernong all the vines
of the variety having come from an origin
in a single specimen by layer propagation
there are no male seuppernongs of course
The male must be found among the wild
muscadines In regions where muscadines
grow wild in the woodJ the cultivated scup
pernong is fertilized by them but here in
Texas where tho wild muscadine does not
grow there can be no fertilization and
consequently no fruit
This must make the case plain and
leave you to clearly see what it is neces
sary to do You must plant a male musca
dine amoug your scuppernong vines
AVe have found it a hard matter to beat
tlilS thing intoUie understanding of nur
serymen hence none of them so far as we
know keep the male vines for sale Ttey
are content to go on selling scuppernong
vines in the muscadine regions leaving
Texas oatirely out so far as relates to the
scapparaong trada Yosr only chance
JW1
THE GAZETTE FT WOETff TEXAS THURSDAY JME1
probably would bo to get vines from the
woods 6t regions where the muscadines
grow Any vine of this species growing in
the muscadine regions that has never been
known to bear fruit is almost sure to be a
male vine and therefore layers fromjt
might be quite safely risked
The Texas nurseryman who will go
largely into a propagation of the scupper
nong supplying both sexes will eventually
have a good thing on his hands He can
safely warrant his seuppernongs to be
fruitful in Texas
The wild muscadine grows abundantly in
all the lower states east of the Mississippi
J river and we think it grows also in the
longleaf pine regions of Eastern Texas
A GRASS TOR NAME
Herewith find blades of a grass which I
take to be fescue ferass please let me
know whether or not it is fescue grass and
also whether or not it is a better grass than
broom sedge W T Kcupexdali
Ashby Tex
It is not fescue grass and we cannot tell
from the single blade received what grass
it is positively though we rather suspect
it to be Johnson grass the Sorghum hal
pense of botanists If it is Johnson grass
the question as to whether or not it is a
better grass than broom sedge would depend
upon circumstances it you desire to give
your farm up wholly to grass it would beat
broom sedge by a long shot If you dont
wish to give your farm up fiat way and
yet ought to move to some vther locality
but cant get the consent of your mind to
do so it will prove better than broom sedge
for iu a few years it will force you to move
aw y to get rid of it Where Johnson grass
becomes fairly located it is there tostayand
it is selfish enough not to allow any other
growth to stay with it Broom sedge is
next door toworthless as a grass Johnson
grass is a fairly good grass for both hay and
pasture With these few facts before you w
conclude that you rill be able to decide for
yourself as to which of the two i the better
grass
For positively identifying a grass it is
necessary that we havo the entire plant
taken while in bloom
what iii ioirxi ix Tin hedge
I was much pleased with yocr suggestion
that people from the older states might do
a good work for IVxas in settling here and
teaching Texans better ways by example
while at the samotime they would be doing
a good work for themselves by becoming
citizens of a good country 1 have been
here about two years came from Ohio
and while I find the Texas people a good
deal behind in point of general informatiou
I also find them apt scholars and entirely
willing to learn as you intmate Iu many
localities you find people so puffed up with
selfimportance that they will uot admita
want of knowledge though it bo ever so
plainly stamped upon them b it the Texas
people appear as a rule to be much clearer
of this objectionable disposition than is
usually the case especially in a new coun
try In my opinion ou have much to eaiu
from an encouragement of Northern i > eo
ple to settle among you additionally to that
gain which must arise from having the
country settled up BrcKrvc
Fort Worth Tex
AVe can fully agree with our correspond
ent in everything stated save that the
Texas people are a good deal behind ii >
point of general Information 1 They may uot
be entirely up to what would be considered
general information in Ohio or any other
Northern state so far as relates to the local
affairs of those statu but when it comes to
understanding Texar local affairs we think
them entirely up to the average of ac
other section The fact of our not happen
ing to know all about everything in Ohio is
no good reason for supposing that we dont
lenow a good deal about very many things
in Texas even things that the Ohioan just
arrived dont know as much about as there
is to know It strikes us that the average
Ohioan and the average Texan are about in
the same boat as to local information and
that each might be the other s teacher to
about the sauie extent
We have plainly seen cropping out iu not
a few strangers a good deal of this notion
that native Texans are comparatively igno
rantand we have al = o noticed a good deal of
the thing that our correspondent calls
puffed up though we shall not be per
sonal enough to state on which side we have
seen its greatest development A little inci
dent that came to our knowledge at Fort
Worth last summer may bo mentioned as
applicable in some way or other au opening
being left for the reader to make such appli
cation as best suits him
We have in Texas a little insect of the
yellowjacket character that instead of
nesting in the ground after the manner of
yellowjackets up North hangs its nest
among low bushes It is a lively stinger
and represents a species never seen North
So much by way of introducing the subject
A gentleman from one of the Northern
states had lately located with his family in
Fort Worth A citizen was paying him a
friendly cU and the two were walking
over the premises the gentleman from the
North telling the citizen all about every
thing and the citizen llsteniug attentively
but mainly in silence There was in the f rout
yard an ornamental privet hedge and as they
were passing near it the gentleman from
the North saw something among the bushes
It appeared to be about the size of a hat
crown but being somewhat afflicted with
near sightedness he could not make out ex
actly v hat it looked like at a mere passing
glance Net feeling willing to betray any
lack of general information he made no
reference to the discovery but so soon as
the citizen was gone he turned out to inves
tigate It appeared to be something the
likes of which he had never seen before so
he parted the hedge and deliberately
plucked it and started it towards his face in
quest of a better focus Just then an im
pression seized upon him that his women
folks having got a flatiron too hot had
put it out in the hedge to cool then he
thoughtit might be a small circular buz
sawinfull motion then it dawned upon
him that a raw thunderbolt had concealed
itself on his premises and firally his heart
fairly sank within him as he arrived at the
conclusion that he had found a steam boiler
under the influence of ahighgauge of steam
and had carelessly pulled off the end of iL
That Texan could have told him all about
a Guinea wasps nest in few words
the en inch hog
Some of us farmers in this neighborhood
are troubled with the chinch bug Will
you be so kind as to tell us through The
Gazette what to do to rid our corn of
them You told us in a recent issue how
to manage the cotton worm now please do
as much for us with reference to the chinch
btig and much oblige a regular reader
Kemp Tex A G Burrow
We need not describe the chinch bug
owing to the unfortunate fact that it is
wellknowu to farmers in all regions where
it puts in an injurious appearance Its
scientific name is Micropus lencopterua
The matured insect HTe tlirough tlie win
ter In esmparailrely small numbers and
sgwasp P
3S
m
WMfrvm
early in spring deposits its eggs tinder
ground where the young bugs begin feed
ing upon the roots of plants to soon after
wnrds come forth as we see them upon our
crops There are several successive broods
of them in the eonrse of the season Heavy
rains are against them while a dry season
s something much to their advantage
Crops under irrigation are not near so
much troubled by chinch hugs as are crops
raised in theoldway
Many remedies for the chinch bug trouble
have been proposed but really it is no <
likely that many of them are worth the
paper an account of them is printed upon
We are frank to acknowledge that we dont
know of any reliable means by which the
chinch bug may be circumvented The
kerosene emulsion described by us last
week has been highly recommended but
we have neither tried it or seen it tried In
our opinion the chinch bug visitation is a
little like the visit of a cyclone it may
come and it may not come and about all
we can do is to take the chances
llEKMUDA GltAsX ALTAIPA
Is there any way to prevent Bermuda
grass from spreading where it is not
wanted Can it bo entirely destroyed
where onco fairly established My laud is
a light sandy loam and we have less rain
fall here ban there i in your part of the
state would this make it easier for us to
control Bermuda grass Where can roots
or cuttings of Bermuda grass be obtained
Do you think alfalfa could be niado to
succeed well here > Stehmng Koit
Newlin Tex
True Bermuda grass Cynodon dactylon
is not a rapid spreader for the reason t it
it natures no seeds but it spreads never
theless and its spread is a thing hard to
prevent where conditions are favorable for
it A wash over lands from lands where
it has a foothold spreads it more rapidly
than anything else hence it should never
be set on lands with a wash toward lower
lands whero it is not wanted The light
roots will sometimes be canieit along a
wash a quarter of a mile from the Bermuda
grass field and the grass located in other
fields
The only means yet known of entirely
eradicating Bermuda grass Is to shade it
out It is a plant of sunshine and hence
cannot long live u shade Some kind cf
heavy shading crop as field peas buck
wheat and the like will rapidly wipe it
out but we loiow of no other practical
method of destroying it One often hears
of grasses that will root out Bermuda
but when you put them to the test you will
be very apt to find the Bermuda the last
thing to quit the field Your sandy hum
and light rainfall would not be enough ic
your favor to justify sitting Bnnuda grass
if you desire to soon get entirely rid of it
At present we can < Hiint jou tr no one pre
pared to supply the sets
We can see no good reason for why
alfalfa properly handled should not prove
a success in your locality Your sandy
loams if deep and well drained would
seem to be entirely favorable for the crop
SLUGS op ncikxci
I must say to you that I like the agri
cultural department of The GAzrrrK
When you first took charge about one year
ago I had my misgiviuts for I understood
that you were expecting to give us slugs
of science thats what i Fort Wcvth gen
tleman called it iu speaking of the urange
meut As yet I have seen none of those
slugs as I expected to see them If plain
facts set forth in plain words are slugs of
science then the more we have of them on
your p an the bptter I have always thought
that there was such a thing as too much
science nowadays but as yet I have not
found The Gazette fixing up any such diet
for us Trivitv
Tarrant county Tex
There may not be sih I a thing as too
much science but there is ertainly too
much foolishness engaging the attention of
certain cranks on ihe plea of scientific in
vestigation Science is simply truth or
pure knowledge according to Webster We
may therefore work up thi science of very
unimportant things but since there are so
many very important things deserving of
scientific investigation it strikes us that
tho lerioii looking after the science of
things which when worked out cau be
turned to no kind of humau advantage is
engaged iu a comparatively unprofitable
business Such work always maks us
think of the scientific crank up uIo a
who decided to give to tho world a detailed
account of how a wasp stbgs He got a
wasp in a quinine bottle and then piked in
his finger The wasp backed up to business
without any unnecessary ceremony In the
nct instant that vientist was so absorbed
in the thought of remedies for the sting of
a wasp that he entirely forgot to make
notes of how the stinging operations w ere
performed but his wife who was present
to see the show has left it to record that a
careful scientific test made under her ob
servations has clearly established the fact
that the immediate result of a wasp sting is
a combination of blasphemy and hartshorn
POPULAR SCIENCE
A TEXAS INVENTION OF MUCH
IMPORTANCE
Physical Education A Nice Thins
ISntter Perpetual Motion Washing
ton and Sew York Telephone The
Oldst Temple A Xew Fuel Etc
Mr Edson J Hadlock of Big Springs
Tex has just patented an invention for ar
resting all sparks on locomotives and con
suming iJL smoke that wellinformed rail
road men say must undoubtedly soon come
into general use It entirely does away
with the ordinary smoke stack of the loco
motive The smoke aud sparks after aris
ing in a pipe a few feet above the boiler
curve downward through double pipes and
pas3 back into the funiaee where every
thing is reconsumed There can be no dan
ger of fire from a locomotive tans arrangi
and it is claimed that this reconsumptipn
makes a great saving of fuel It also largiLv
improves the draft on the furnace
Dr M G Ebey says the highest product
of the best education is a sound and well
cultured mind in a sound and well
cultered body It is the most perfect and
finished bodily powers and functions which
wilf sustain aud carry forward the mind
in its highest flights of exertion ai
achievement Physical culture is nothing
but applied physiology Universities col
leges schools and especially medical and
agricultural colleges should provide for in
struction and by thoroughly competent in
structors in the principles of the science
of physical culture A subject of impor
tance so great should be taken out of the
hands of Incompetent teachers and practi
tioners
A Gtsrman sciejitest claims to tare dU
covered that the peculiar and v
nutty flavor in butter is due
livinf germ in the material w
identified as to species as i
calls it Bacterium No 1 > lit
ter can have this flavor w v
ence in it of that particular gev
numbers Is this not likelt
new and important industry
germs and selling them t t i
bottle to be turned loose
What are we to hear of nev
Our note of last week stu
phone line was in success
twecn London and Pans
charges for talkinf over it w
has brought to t the
there is a line working
constantly between New t
ington City The cost of
American line is 40 cer
tance 240 miles
Mr W H Goodyear a
cent unearthing of the olus
tiau temple aud the oi
pyramids ever found A
temple if the Sphinx a
ing is aKo the only tei i
Viresofat known ui
about forty feet of rubbU
Advice to Mother
Snothui
>
hUifesH n i
Muff soft jh
I qfln uidf
hPri
has
>
r
I took Cold
I toolr Sick
I TOOK
VfflQ
RESULT
I take IyJeals
es
j
1
lr
at the center of the e
pyramid on the Mile fi
two roundtopied obelsl
temple chambers so far <
Goodear have the p
style of the old empir
temple of the Sphinx In
tions in black piint fi
name of Soneferoo as b i
the supposition to this eT a
ou the fact that tonus
contain his cnrtovhc s
king the thi
connecting ii i
ties and variously y A
cording to compinaiiis e
Bnigsch theantiqui
B L or earlier
Of course there can be r >
inachiiu m ving without >
moving force yet sas uie1 >
motive Guilder some t
aud iwrsistiit ri n are
hopelfss task of devis ui
appliances Our eduvat
many respects resnoiisim
mental enei v being a i
If natural philosophy uuii f
ehanies received the itreut j
schools that their hiip iu X
there would be fewer in A
their friends to sujiplv fluid r c tw
opineut of apparatus intemli A
lires laws Ignorance o tl
lire is no doubt ivspor e 1
jority of periietiu1 m ut
some men wini are w i t r
pursuers of thu ciiiuiru I <
difficult to understand Un h r a j
cis that creep over j o nut
bright intellects
The Shipmast > rs suciei i
strongly advocating me num
troleum instead of jrc s n
ocean stioners The u iiie
troleum plli s a ivgiiaiiuii <
turfy under control o f
does away with am need
army of lirenen The t
hcavyaud would tal e no v ji
tie room it could i > r
the vessel and bi made io r
ballast All things on <
not be so expensive as im
it is maintained thai iv >
known to exist in al pan s o
and once it should cocit i < >
steam fuel eseis imn II
getting all needed a a irn
port
To Scientific American
mated that iu the jear iXX
lTOOOOOOOO people w i
Knglish language uhi o
will be speaking other K nn < cd
According to this 1 jig i i s <
universal language of lurf e
later
The great steam pi on u
heavy luachintry are now Ix iu i
numerous small pip bi uei
away with a ua
Sllld ivlif
as b > xi p
ving entire >
r J
a 1 pc
it 1 ij c
cX
t Si
Sit
e < 31 i o
u a
r nti y
ilT
r it
s al
upllf
et
im
out
I tpfe My Best
AND I AMVIJjjKOt OlGlI TO rMCE I
ANYTHINGJJ AN lA t IA4 ° I
geltiiiafnht too ta Scott Si
Emulsiln or Pure CocNJver Oil j
and Hypophosphitesof Cfojeariu
SOda 0 ONLY C17KD KY IfiflpI
iciit CousumiJtioM b
ME UP AND IS NOW PI ft IN
FLESH ON MY BONES j
AT THE KATE OF A POLND A > j
TAKE IT It ST AS EASILY AS I f > M < K
SUCH TESTIMONY IS NOUI
EMULSION IS DOIN WJNbltS j
vbus
NE
eras1
Iron W
ioe TOfferiny
we ta iStaf SftSSy
andfiim
sited vrfU trfcr
n lad t l < i
ii1
A Tremont Ko
t riUCc
l
3
BC6W3
Label
for which
you arepaiilsnJ
AU
on the day to whim
are prepaid
ev
ACCURACY DUHtS Igr
WORKMANSHIP S glj
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